When not working on my own art I spend a great deal of time out and about looking at other work.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Oh my Gosh!

Map of California’s Gold,
mixed media on canvas, 20”x20”

Let’s say you want to prospect for gold in California.Well, you’ll need a map.I startedwith a big pile of California maps that would include pages
from old atlases, road maps, topographic maps and ones I picked up at visits to
state parks.Try cutting them all
up and putting them back together to see what happens.I did and I ended up with a portrait of
Huell Howser!

For those of you who are Californians, you know that our Huell
is world famous.I’ve been to
countless places featured on his show California’s Gold and even discovered a few places courtesy of
Huell.Without him I might never
have found Glass Beach in Fort Bragg.That road trip lead to a whole series of beach glass paintings a few years
back.Huell Howser’s is one of the
most likeable people in California and his enthusiasm for this wonderful place
we live is truly infectious.And,
after watching something grim on the evening news, nothing is a better antidote
than a bit of California’s Gold.

About Me

I am an artist living in San Francisco. I work primarily in mixed media, collage and landscape painting. My work has included maps, postcard-themed art and mail art projects. In 2013 I began a series called Collagescapes where I start painting paper with areas of color representing the palette of a specific place. Next I cut the paper into hundreds of small pieces, randomize the pieces and then reassemble them in various geometric patterns. Collagescapes are both landscape paintings and collages. They appear abstract but retain the color palette of the places they represent.
My new series is Time Travel Photos — handmade photo collages showing places in San Francisco where I have cut and sliced present-day photographs and interwoven photos of nature representing how the City looked before Europeans arrived. Each is an image of an urban space with the natural past emerging through. For example, creeks once again run through the Mission and dunes reappear in Golden Gate Park and tidal flats fill the Embarcadero.
My work has shown in over 40 venues, primarily in California but also in other locations in the United States and abroad. My artwork can be viewed at tofuart.com